Uber granted new, shorter, licence to operate in London

LONDON (Reuters) - Uber was granted a new, shorter, licence to operate in London on Tuesday after a judge said it had made the changes required to be deemed fit and proper, after its earlier application was denied last year.

Transport for London (TfL) refused to give the Silicon Valley taxi firm a five-year operating licence last September, citing failings in its approach to reporting serious criminal offences and to background checks on drivers.

But Judge Emma Arbuthnot at Westminster Magistrates Court ruled that Uber could operate in London on a 15-month licence, subject to strict conditions.

Uber has admitted that TfL's decision to deny it a licence last year was the right one, but insists changes in policy and personnel justified the award of a shorter licence to prove it had changed.

TfL's lawyer said that costs for the case, to be paid by Uber, would be 425,000 pounds. ($562,487).

(Reporting by Alistair Smout; editing by Stephen Addison)